Pendular piston rotary explosion engine

ABSTRACT

A pendular piston rotary explosion engine having two sections of which one section compresses air fed to the second section in which fuel is mixed with the air and fired, each section has a pair of crank discs within a cylinder, a Maltese-cross shaped filling member, a shaft through the center of said discs and filling member, but eccentric to the axis of its cylinder and pendulum shaped pistons rotatably carried by said crank discs within said filling members.

[45] July 9,1974

United States Patent Richter 1 [54] PNDULAR PISTON ROTARY EXPLOSION3,036,560 5/1962 Geiger............................,...418/241 3,108,5793,289,647 3,411,488

10/1963 Korf........ 12/1966 Tumer....

ENGINE [76] Inventor:

11/1968 Kramm..........:..............

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Ernest H. C. Richter, Aribau 177,Barcelona, Spain July 19, 1971 452,835 11/1927Germany..........................418/260 [22] Filed:

Appl. No.; 163,599

Primary Examiner-ClarenceR. Gordon 26 Drawing Figures PAIENIEUJUL 91914sum oa uf s1V INVENTOR ERNEST HC. R/CHTEK BY zap/ ATTORNEYS Hmmm-JUL91914 3,822,676

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i INVENTOR [fR/VEST H. C. RICHTER ATTORNEYS PTENTEDJUL M974 ATTORNEYSPENDULAR PISTON ROTARY EXPLOSION ENGINE The present invention refers toa pendular piston rotary explosion engine, which offers severalimportant improvements compared to all usual explosion engines.

The so-called combustion engine does not in actual fact producecombustion but the explosion of a mixture of air and vapourized liquid,that is, a mist which, naturally, tends to condense on all the surfaceswith which it enters into contact. This condensation begins in the ductwhich leave from the Carburettor and continues during filling andcompression, on all the walls of the cylinders and pistons. Thiscondensation tendency is used in many cases to lubricate surfaces whichare difficult to reach, by adding oil to the said mixture. Condensationin the ducts from the Carburettor to the cylinders make the flow rateswhich the latter receive vary and thus their performance. In the opinionof experts, condensation is the direct cause of monoxide and unburntremains. It is mainly the film which forms inside the cylinder which,due to its larger amount and the action of the pistons compressionstroke, which collecting and accumulating this liquid layer, places itaround the exhaust in the top part of the cylinder, where the explosiondoes not affect it, as this liquid, although combustible, is notexplosive and needs time to burn. The plunger stroke, that is, theexplosion, at a rate of 5,000 revolutions only lasts three thousandthsof a second, and this is not sufficient to vapourize and completely burnthe remains, which are dragged by the burned gas and taken to theexhaust pipe in the form of monoxide and unburned fuel.

The crankshaft is inseparably linked to dead points, these to delayedignition and this is not possible without high octanes, the product oflead. The crankshaft only allows one cycle at a time, and has to waitfor this to be completed before starting the following. Hence theinterruptions in the torque motion. The crankshaft does not allow thegas to ignite and be fully used at its maximum compression and shortensthe multiplying length of its radial lever, as well as reducing the timethe gas has to burn. At a rate of 5,000 revolutions, it has already beenstated that the gas only has three thousandths of a second to burn. lnthe Wankel rotary engine, only the problem of the short lever of thecrankshaft has been solved, but at the cost of a very shortened burningstroke. In a rotary engine, both the Carburettor and the crankshaft andalso the lead in the mixture have to be dispensed with and, especially,it is necessary to allow sufficient time for combustion to be effective.

In the engine the object of this application, there is no Carburettorand no crankshaft and, consequently, there are no dead points, nor isdelayed ignition needed. Only air is compressed so that hammering andknocking due to premature explosions are not possible, as the fuel isinjected into the ignition chamber when this has reached its leastvolume and ignited at the same time as it is injected, thereby neithervwasting compression nor combustion time, and not needing octanes, i.e.lead, in the mixture. Neither-can condensation be produced as noCarburettor is used and the combustion is kept alive until the gasreaches the exhaust pipe. There is no piston stroke displacing badlyburnt gases.

In the said engine of this application, the usual crankshaft has beenreplaced by a straight shaft which has two pairs of crank discs firmlyfixed, to it each pair with a central filling part joined to same, butnot to the said shaft, it is similar in shape to a Malthese cross, inbetween whose arms the pendicular pistons are housed, the fixed axles ofthem revolving in bearings placed in the actual discs, thereby formingthe cranks of the latter and the unit determining the engine rotors.

The said filling body, together with the retracted pis tons between itsspokes, forms a concentric cylinder with less radius than the two crankdiscs which enclose it, the pendular motion of the said pistons takingplace completely between the two inner sides of those discs.

The cylinders in which the rotors turn are of smaller inside diameterthan the crank-discs and a bigger diameter than the filing pieces andbeing excentric to the main shaft on which these are firmly mounted, afree moon-sickle shaped space is formed enclosed by the two parallelinside faces of the discs, the outer surface of the filling piece andpistons and the stationary inner surface of the actual cylinder. Onrevolving the swinging motion of the pistons divides the sickle-shapedfree space into as many rotating chambers of changing shape and volumeas pistons are provided.

The cycle is carried out divided into two rotors, one filling andcompressing the ambient air and conveying it through a passage to theignition chamber of the other where it receives the fuel injection whichis simultaneously lit thereby avoiding all condensation. The compressorrotor holds more than the engine rotor, thus providing any volume of airdesired.

In this engine, several chambers work simultaneously, one igniting whilethe preciding one is still in the expansion step.

In the flanks parallel to the inner sides of the discs, the pistons havesome ring segments fitted round their shafts; these piston rings restingon the retainer edges, act as springs for same.

The hollowed pistons, together with their levers and sliding devices,are counter weighted so as to have their centre of gravity in the centreof the shafts of these pistons. All the components making up the engineare lubricated and cooled by oil which is driven by a pump inserting itinto the drive shaft, while the outside of the unit, especially thecylinders, can be cooled either by air or water.

The piston retaining strap slides along the surface of the retainingring placed on the inner face of the disc.

To better understand the present descriptive report, eleven sheets ofdrawings are attached in which, only by way of example, a practical caseof embodiment of a four piston engine is represented.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the engine unit;

FIG. 2 is the cross-wise vertical section of the motor cylinder throughthe line II-II of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is the cross-wise vertical section of the motor cylinder throughthe line Ill-III of FIG. l with filling piece and pistons;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view taken on line lV--IV of FIG. ll of the innerside of the four crank discs making up the rotor;

FIGS. and 6 show cross-section through lines V-V and Vl-VI,respectively, of the previous FIG. 4

FIGS. 7 to 10 are details of the filling parts in between thecrank-discs within which the corresponding pistons move;

FIG. Il taken on line XI-XI of FIG. 1 of shows the outer side of thecylinder separating with guide channels for the pistons gliding stones;

FIGS. 12 to 18 are details of the pendular pistons;

FIG. 19' is an elevation view taken on line XIX--XIX of FIG. 1 of theouter side of one of the discs forming the rotor;

FIGS. and 21 are details ofa piston and its guiding lever;

FIG. 22 shows a view taken on line XXII-XXII of FIG. 1 of the cylinderof the compressor section;

FIGS. 23 to 2S are details of the cylinders of the motor section andcompressor section; and

FIG. 26 shows the way this engine work, igniting its chamber l'-2 while4-3' is still expanding.

The engine in question is made of a main casing formed by two end covers1, open in the center for a drive shaft 2 to pass, which crosses anintermediary wall 3, which divides the inside of the said casing intotwo sections M and C, of which M is the motor and C the compressor.

On the drive shaft 2, a two rotors are formed and fixed by two pairs ofcrank discs 4, each pair placed between the lids l and the separatingwall 3. The crankdiscs 4 are applied in cylinders 5, 6.

As described previously said crank-discs 4 are of greater diameter thanthe inner, working surfaces 7 and 8 of the cylinders 5 and 6 so as toenclose these excentrically inbetween their inner, parallel surfaces,giving the lengthwise cut of the cylinders 5 and 6 a double T shapedform as shown in FIGS. 1, 23, 24 and 25, the horizontal arm of the Thousing concentrically the outside rims ofthe crank-discs. Being 5 and 6a part of the engines carcass, the cylinders are bolted both to thedividing wall 3 and to the lids 1 and may be cooled either by airthrough the shown fins 9, or being hollow by water.

In the FIGS. 2, 3, 22 and 26 Ca indicates the center of the casing andCy indicates the center of the cylinder.

Cylinders 5, 6 are fixed to the intermediary wall 3 and to the endcovers 1 by means of bolts 10.

On the outer side the discs 4 have a ring-shaped groove into which anoil seal 11 is fitted, which is in contact with the inner wall of thecovers 1. Inside, those revolving discs 4 have other grooves, somecircular and arc-shaped to hold both piston rings 12 and 13 (FIG. 4) andothers arc-shaped 14 to fix the filling wheel shaped parts 15.

The discs 4 are equipped with matched bearings in which the shafts 16 ofthe pistons 17 are housed, parallel to the drive shaft and which formpart of some pendular pistons 17 composed of a cylindrical body in twosegments with different arcs and provided with a cavity 18 whichcommunicates with two holes 19 and 20, the first leading to the outsideand the second, in turn, communicating with axial hole 21, which runsinside the shafts 16. At the bottom of the part in the shape of aMalthese cross 15 (which has the same number of cylindrical notches asthere are pendular pistons 17 which are housed in them), there are alsoother holes 22; the actual drive shaft 2 is also provided with alengthwise hole 23, with side outlets 24 in front of those Malthesecross parts 15 which have lengthwise grooves (FIGS. 3 and 7 to 10) forsome retainer strips 25.

The solid part of the pendular pistons places the center of gravity intheir axis when moving. The structure of the pistons is shown in FIGS.12 to 18, in which, some notches 17' appear in each edge of each piston`where retainer strips 26 are housed, shaft parallel held resiliently inthese notches by springs 27, which enter grooves 28 held around thepiston shafts.

The chamber 7 of the power section M has an inlet 29 for the intake ofcompressed air, and a duct 30 for injecting the fuel. Near to the twoignition plugs 3l and opposite these the mouth of the exhaust pipe 32.In the chamber 8 of the compressor section C there is an inlet 33 forsucking in ambient air and an outlet 34 for sending compressed air tothe engine intake 29, which takes place through a intercommunicationpassage shown diagrammatically as 35 in FIG. 1.

Into the dividing wall 3 there is a cavity 36 which communicates withthe lubricating holes 37, bring said cavity 36 in communication withexterior tube 38.

In both sides of dividing wall 3, there is a ring-shaped channel 39,concentric to the inner profile of the cylinders; inside these guidechannels the slide parts 40 move, (FIG. 11) hinged to ends of levers 41(FIG. 21) joined to the shafts 16 of the pendular pistons 17. Theseguide channels 39 could also be placed on the inner faces of the endcovers 1.

Cooling and lubricating oil is pumped into the moving parts of theengine through the tubular main shaft 2 and having passed the fillingbody 15 and hollow pistons 17 through ducts 19, 22 and 23 emerges intothe enclosures between discs and adjoining body parts to go back to thepump by tubes 38 and 42.

From the above, the way this engine works can be deduced, in which nointernal compression is produced of the mixture due to the fact that thefuel is injected to the precompressed air. As ignition is not delayed,it is not necessary to add lead to the fuel.

The feeder and the motor working synchronizedly together produce fourconsecutive full cycles on each revolution and as each rotating firingchamber reaches its ignition-point before the preceding chamber has runits full expansion, this overlapping of power doubles the rendiment ofthe engine. There are thus eight expansions per revolution whilstconsumption of fuel is the amount necessary for only four explosions.

Not only are the expanding chambers themselves increasing their size,but the excentricity obliges the pendulum pistons on rotation to reachfarther out to keep in sealing contact with the cylinder, thus theirworking surfaces was compenating to agreat the waning pressure oftheexpansing gas, the flow of power being very uniform.

The pendular shaped pistons are free of torque as the pressure of theexpanding gas is perfectly balanced on their outer surfaces so there isno stress on the pistons levers nor on their guiding gliding pieces intheir sliding channels. The moment of rotation is applied directly tothe crank discs over the cranks formed by the pistons axis.

The weight of each piston together with its guiding lever and slidingguide is balanced, their common center of gravity is the center of thepistons axis which go varound in a perfect circle and so do not producefree masses. Construction is simple, as carburettors crankshafts, gearedwheels and complex parts are dispensed with. Working surfaces are flator regular cylinders, and easy to prepare. Due to the specialarrangement of the pendular pistons 17, and the gas-tight chambers whichthey limit, there is no point in the rotor, during the full turn ofsame, which does not receive mechanical energy, which eliminates deadpoints. Intake 30 and the exhaust pipe 32 are completely separate, theopposite of what happens in conventional engines.

FIG. 26 finally shows the perfomance of the engine object of the presentinvention. The pressure of the eX- panding gas always works tangentiallyto the drive shaft on a very long transmitting and multiplying radiallever which waxes up to the moment it reaches and opens exhaust. Thedriving surface increases its area while the expanding gas develops itsgreatest force and power is delivered up to the instant the exhaust isopened.

Chamber l-4 has just closed the air duct. As the compressor rotor may beof greater volume than the motor-rotor, any convenient degree ofcompression may be obtained. At the same time carburant is injected, itis fired by two spark plugs simultaneously, which are as near to theinjection opening as is constructively feasible, so no condensation ispossible. The radius to point 4 is longer than the one to point 1, sogas expansion drives chamber l-4 in the desired sense. As point 4 getsto point 3 at 170 degrees of rotation still pushing, point 1 has reachedfiring position and no dead points or loss of initial compression ispossible, two chambers always working together.

The division of the cycle makes it possible to obtain on one revolutionof 360 degrees the filling compressing, firing and voiding of fourchambers giving an output of 72() degrees of power, while a conventionalengine renders 90 and the Wankel about 210.

On top of the mentioned mechanical advantages it is to be rememberedthat this engine does not use lead in its fuel burning it over a courseof 260 degrees while giving it as much air as is convenient for itstotal combustion and does not void unburned residues.

l claim:

1. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine comprising a straight driveshaft, a pair of end covers, an intermediate wall spaced between saidend covers, two pairs of crank discs with each pair positioned betweensaid intermeidate wall and a different one of said end covers, saidshaft extending through said end covers, said intermediate wall and saidcrank discs, a pair of cylinders each attached to said intermediate walland a different one of said end covers and having their axis eccentricto, said shaft, cooling means carried by said cylinders, a pair offilling members each having the configuration of a Maltese cross andbring connected to and positioned between said pairs of crank discs,said filling members having their shaft extending through the centersthereof and bring connected thereto, pendular pistons each positionedbetween a different pair of spokes of one of said filling members androtatably supported between and by one of said pairs of crank discs,means for admitting air through one of said cylinders, means placingboth cylinders in communication, means for injecting fuel into the otherif said cylinders, means for firing fuel in said other cylinder andmeans for exhausting said other cylinder.

2. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim l whereinsaid cylinders have a smaller inner diameter than said crank discs, butlarger than said filling members and said pistons being completelyenclosed by the inner faces of said crank discs, the outer faces of saidfilling members and the inner surfaces of said cylinders.

3. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim lincluding means keeping one face of each piston in Contact with theinner face of its cylinder and the forward edge of each piston slidingon its filling member.

4. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim 1 whereinring-shaped channels of said crank discs are each provided concentric tothe inner face of one of said cylinders, levers are each attached to oneof said pistons and means are carried by said levers sliding in saidchannels.

* s k i

1. Pendular piston rotary explosion engine comprising a straight driveshaft, a pair of end covers, an intermediate wall spaced between saidend covers, two pairs of crank discs with each pair positioned betweensaid intermeidate wall and a different one of said end covers, saidshaft extending through said end covers, said intermediate wall and saidcrank discs, a pair of cylinders each attached to said intermediate walland a different one of said end covers and having their axis eccentricto, said shaft, cooling means carried by said cylinders, a pair offilling members each having the configuration of a Maltese cross andbring connected to and positioned between said pairs of crank discs,said filling members having their shaft extending through the centersthereof and bring connected thereto, pendular pistons each positionedbetween a different pair of spokes of one of said filling members androtatably supported between and by one of said pairs of crank discs,means for admitting air through one of said cylinders, means placingboth cylinders in communication, means for injecting fuel into the otherif said cylinders, means for firing fuel in said other cylinder andmeans for exhausting said other cylinder.
 2. Pendular piston rotaryexplosion engine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said cylinders have asmaller inner diameter than said crank discs, but larger than saidfilling members and said pistons being completely enclosed by the innerfaces of said crank discs, the outer faces of said filling members andthe inner surfaces of said cylinders.
 3. Pendular piston rotaryexplosion engine as claimed in claim 1 including means keeping one faceof each piston in contact with the inner face of its cylinder and theforward edge of each piston sliding on its filling member.
 4. Pendularpiston rotary explosion engine as claimed in claim 1 wherein ring-shapedchannels of said crank discs are each provided concentric to the innerface of one of said cylinders, levers are each attached to one of saidpistons and means are carried by said levers sliding in said channels.